The purpose of this blog is to provide families with precise, up-to-date
information on all of America World Adoption’s programs, helpful
resources and adoption stories. We pray that you are encouraged
by seeing God working in families through the Spirit of Adoption.

Adoption Education

November 21, 2016

The Department of State recently proposed new regulations that may significantly impact international adoption. Since 2004, international adoption has declined dramatically (by almost 75%). If the regulations pass, they have the potential to drastically change and further decrease the number of international adoptions, cause some adoption agencies to close leaving families with less options, and potentially lengthen the processing time of adoptions that do take place.

While NCFA supports some of the themes these proposed regulations set out to address, like improved education and high ethical standards, the impact of the proposed rules is worrisome to adoptive families and adoption professionals. Yet, we have an opportunity to ask for change! These rules are proposed and are not yet binding.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov 22nd), is the last day to publicly comment on the Department of State proposed regulations. You can read the proposed regulations here. America World Adoption has publicly posted and we encourage families to let your voice be heard. Please comment today – it only takes a minute or two to let you voice be heard. You can comment here.

November 15, 2016

As you may know, the U.S. Department of State has proposed new regulations that may significantly impact international adoption. While National Council For Adoption supports some of the themes these proposed regulations set out to address, the impact of these rules is worrisome to adoptive families and adoption professionals.

That’s why we need your voice today, November 15th, for a special Adoption Advocacy Day!________________________________________What’s it all about?

“If adoptive families had any idea of what was going on, I think they would be outraged … We’re so busy just doing paperwork for adoptions that frankly we barely have time to fight this.”– Lucy Armistead, Adoption Professional

We have an opportunity to provide feedback on these regulations. This week, Congress drafted this letter to the Department of State expressing their concerns. In order for this letter to have maximum impact, we need as many Representatives/Senators to sign it as possible!

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Make a difference on 11/15!

During National Adoption Month, help us celebrate adoption by using your voice to create a better future for children living outside of family care. Call your Senators and Representative TODAY and ask them to sign their name to the Congressional letter by Friday, November 18th.

Here’s how to be an awesome adoption advocate:

Step 1. Call your Representative and both Senators. (Yes! All three! Find contact information for your Members of Congress here.)

Step 2. Ask to speak with the person who handles international adoption issues.

Step 3. Make it personal! Introduce yourself and your connection to adoption. Educate the staffer about the Department of State’s proposed regulation changes that will impact intercountry adoptions. Staffers juggle dozens of issues every day, so they may not have heard about these regulations. This is your opportunity to inform and educate! (Here is an example of what to say on your phone call.) Remember staff time is limited, so be clear and concise.

Step 4. Ask their office to sign the congressional letter to Secretary Kerry expressing concerns by Friday, November 18, 2016. They can contact any of the following Congressional offices to sign on:

1. Thank them for talking to you. Kindness Counts! 2. Forward them the letter with written instructions. (See our follow-up email template below!)

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Dial the phone first! Then use social media to boost the impact!

The BEST way to make your voice heard is by calling. It’s easy and only takes minutes! Social media posts are largely ineffective and emails or letters can be overlooked in a mountain of messages. Here are tips from former staffer Emily Ellsworth on how to be an effective advocate, and why phone calls are the best method of communication. Social media is a great way to educate your friends and family about this issue. Get the word out by sharing this Adoption Advocacy Day post TODAY. Tell Congress why adoption matters to you!

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Sample Follow-Up Email

Dear [name of the international adoption staffer],

Thanks for taking my call today! I hope Representative/Senator XYZ will support this letter to prevent the Department of State’s proposed regulations from negatively impacting adoptive families.Join Senators Blunt and Klobuchar and Representatives Franks and Lawrence (the Congressional Coalition on Adoption co-chairs) and others in this important effort to support adoptive families.

Please contact any of the following offices by Friday, November 18th to sign on to this important letter.

November 08, 2016

The U.S. State Department has proposed new rules regulating intercountry adoption that will drastically impact the ability for orphaned children abroad to be adopted. These rules would restrict the number of agencies working in foreign countries and are motivated by an anti-adoption agenda.

We ask that you take a few seconds to sign & share the petition at SaveAdoptions.org by November 22, 2016.

The Petition:

We the People hereby petition our government to immediately withdraw the proposed rules published on September 8, 2016 changing the accreditation standards and procedures for intercountry adoptions; and that the State Department be required to identify and substantiate what problems they seek to solve by proposing these rule changes and incorporate the expertise of the adoption community prior to formulating any necessary new rules. The number of intercountry adoptions to the United States has fallen by 75% since 2004, leaving hundreds of thousands of orphans without safe, stable and loving families.

October 14, 2016

On Orphan Sunday, churches in 80 nations invite Christians to welcome children in need

With 427,000 children in US foster care and 17.8 million worldwide who’ve lost both parents, thousands of churches will echo a united message across 80 nations on Orphan Sunday 2016. Spanning languages, cultures and time zones, on November 13 Christians worldwide will celebrate God’s special love for orphaned and vulnerable children – and what ordinary people can do to put that love into action.

Special events, prayers and activities on Orphan Sunday invite individuals to consider adoption, foster care, mentoring and/or support for orphaned children around the world.

The Impact of Growing Up Without a Family

In the United States, there are more than 425,000 children in the foster system today due to abuse and severe neglect. About one quarter have been permanently removed from their parents. To For these children, the wait for a family often exacerbates trauma the child suffered in their own home. Every year, more than 20,000 “age out” into adulthood without a permanent family.

Foster youth face immense difficulties. Children aging out of the system without the support of a family are far more vulnerable to traffickers, prostitution, homelessness and a host of other ills. A 2013 human trafficking raid by the FBI found that 60 percent of child victims came from foster care.

Globally, an estimated 17.8 million children have lost both parents, and countless others live in orphanages or on the streets due to abandonment or abuse. Like foster youth, these children face dramatically increased risks of human trafficking, hunger, disease and other ills. A study in Moldova found that girls who grow up in orphanages are ten times more likely to be victims of human trafficking than other young women.

Seeking to change these numbers, faith communities across a wide range of Christian denominations unite on Orphan Sunday to challenge churches to be an answer for these children. If every church in America adopted just one child from foster care, there would be more families waiting for children than children waiting for families. More information and statistics state by state can be found here.

For materials and event ideas specifically for children in foster care, visit www.standsunday.org.

Children praying for children

To encourage even more participation this year, churches will be encouraged to share the newly released children’s story Farmer Herman and the Flooding Barn during children’s services. Based on a true story, the book chronicles the impact that can be made when large numbers of people work together for a single cause. Proceeds from the book will help fund the National Foster Care Initiative. The book and an accompanying prayer guide for children and family devotional will be available beginning November 1, 2016.

Thousands of events worldwide

The national Orphan Sunday campaign, led by the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), has helped grow this vision. More than 800 local Orphan Sunday events took place nationwide in 2015. The campaign aims for more than 1,000 events, in 2016, across America on the second weekend of November. A list of Orphan Sunday events is available here: https://cafo.org/orphansunday/check-in/

“The size of the need can feel paralyzing. But Orphan Sunday reminds us of the single statistic that matters more than any other,” said Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. “Whether through adoption, fostering or mentoring, just one caring person or family can change the life of a child forever.”

The website www.orphansunday.org serves as a hub for the campaign, offering event ideas, downloadable materials and ways individuals can partner with orphan-serving organizations to hold local events. The first Orphan Sunday was held in a small church in Zambia, Africa, where the local pastor urged his church to share what little they had with local children who had been orphaned by AIDS. The church responded with immense generosity, and some even removed their own shoes as gifts for orphans. In 2009, American churches began following Zambia’s example. The idea of helping orphans quickly spread around the country and eventually the globe.

October 07, 2016

September 30, 2016

As you open the cover of children’s books to see what’s inside with your child, you have an opportunity to open doors of conversation to talk about the good and the not-so-good parts of adoption, how some kids feel, and how they may feel. Here you will find a list of a handful of adoption-themed children’s books with reviews put together by Kelly Raudenbush, adoptive mom, attachment therapist, and cofounder of The Sparrow Fund who has been leading teams to one of our partnership orphanages for several years. As you go through the list, know that there is no “perfect” book; you are the best resource for your child, not a book. But, these tools—both the applauded and a bit more critically discussed books— can all be used to start and guide conversations about adoption between your child and you.

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General enough to read to children adopted domestically or internationally and specific enough to lead them to believe it was written just for them. As I read Searching For The You We Adore aloud, our daughter follows the glossy red ribbon with her finger as it travels around the globe. It's a story of a family’s journey and unconditional love and a must have for every adoptive family with beautiful words and engaging illustrations. This title is no longer in print, but don't let that stop you. You can purchase used copies on Amazon or order a new copy directly from The Sparrow Fund (we stocked up!).

It's the story of a fruitless apple tree, an abundant apple orchard, one wise farmer, and the gift of family—that's A Gift for Little Tree by Colleen Marquez. The book captures the pain of childlessness in the fruitless apple tree whose branches would droop and her whole trunk ache. The book captures the sovereignty of God as the wise farmer reminds the tree that he has not forgotten her and masterfully helps a tree who cannot bear its fruit and grafts in a new branch to the fruitless tree. Colleen gently brings in birth families and the community that adoption builds between families. Appropriate for domestic and international adoption and interracial or not, this book would make a great gift for a waiting mommy who has felt the ache of infertility, a young child to open doors to talk about adoption, a sibling waiting for a new brother or sister, or even a high school or college graduate who joined your family through a grafting process. Since this book reads like a parable and is full of beautiful art you would want to hang on your wall, it really is one worth having. It's actually one I'd like to have several of on hand for when the right situation warrants a special gift.

Grab your tissues and sit down to read Motherbridge of Love. Written to benefit well known author and women and children's advocate Xinran's charity The Mothers' Bridge of Love, the text of this book is a poem that was written and given anonymously for this purpose. With amazing illustrations, the poem tells the story of a little girl and the two mothers who have been a part of that story. From the first page, I was hooked: "Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not know. The other you call Mother." Specific to China (with the poem translated into Chinese in the front), it would be appropriate to read with any girls who were adopted and wonder about the birth mothers they likely will never know. This book would be a really nice Mother's Day gift for a waiting mommy, a nice tradition to read with your daughter in recognition of the day you became a family, a good way to open a door to talk about birth mothers, or simply a good read if you just want a little reminder of who you are and your calling as a mother...or if you simply need a little cry.

Karen Henry Clark's book reads like a fable that will invite all sorts of interesting conversations for your family. When Karen faced the fact that her daughter's whole first year of life in China would forever be a mystery, she created a story of her own, a fairytale, to inspire her daughter's imagination. That story about a perfect baby girl's journey down the Pearl River to her forever family struck such a chord with her little girl that she shared her story for everyone in an adoption folktale Sweet Moon Baby: An Adoption Tale. Using items in her daughter's life, she tells the tale of a Chinese man and woman who release their baby girl because they cannot care for her as they would want. She floats in a basket over the river guided by a turtle, a peacock, a monkey, a panda, and even some fish until she is welcomed into the arms of her new parents on the other side of the river. This one is a beautiful, figurative fable, and a good one to use to open conversation up with your child about her real story and what she wishes it may have been.

I love books that open up doors to rich conversation--this one does not disappoint. Elfa and the Box of Memories, published by BAAF (a London based adoption/foster care charity), is a must-have book for foster families and an excellent book for any families with children who struggle with navigating memories—both good and bad. Elfa the elephant carries a box of memories on her back that starts to interfere with life really. Marvin the monkey offers to sit with her to go through the box, full of pictures and mementos of his childhood. But, there are memories not there, ones she's lost and she doesn't know how. She goes back to some caregivers (zebras from a nursery, a rhino doctor, and hippos--who fill the role of foster parents though the verbiage is never used, and a giraffe teacher) who give her more little tidbits to help her remember. When the gaps are full enough, she thanks Marvin for his help and tells him, "I would never have been able to remember all those special times on my own. It's not easy when you haven't got anyone to share your memories with." Marvin then helps her take the box off her back and put it in a safe hiding spot so that she can "play with the other animals and run through the trees without worrying about the heavy box on her back." Excellent opportunity to talk to your children about releasing burdens and the freedom we can experience in that release. And, to make it even more practical, the book comes with a little book in the back called "My Book of Memories" where your child can write his or her own information in there. I'm imagining a great bonding day for parent and child—a special lunch out, completing the book together as best you can, and then hiding it somewhere safe...together.

Brilliant. Love Star of the Week: A Story of Love, Adoption, and Brownies with Sprinkles by a husband–wife team dealing with how a kindergarten girl adopted from China handles being "star of the week" in school, an exciting yet challenging experience that entails a poster all about her. Darlene deals with birthparent questions and feelings beautifully, setting a great example for the rest us parents who may feel unprepared. Told by Cassidy-Li's perspective, she explains how they've talked about "all the reasons people can't take care of their babies. They might be very poor, or maybe too young." No promises are made. No over dramatizations or emotional imagery. Just acknowledgment that a child can love her parents but still feel sad about birthparents. And, that is totally okay. Only thing missing? Maybe a few discussion questions or conversation starters for parents at the end...and a boy version...and maybe some versions for kids from other countries or domestically

adopted or in foster care. Darlene and Roger, more please.

Kids Like Me in China gives an inside view of an orphanage in Changsha, Hunan Province through lots of photos and the sweet words of an 8 year old girl named Ying Ying Fry. It’s outdated but still one that I think it worthwhile to have and use to open great conversations with your child (who out there may want to publish an updated version of this? Could be a great fundraiser!). Ying Ying tells about her experience of being adopted and her American parents and then shares about the two weeks she spent visiting the orphanage where she spent her infancy and the ayis who cared for her until her parents took her home. It’s a fascinating book that is pretty compelling. There are a lot of pages and words, too much to read to a toddler. But, when my little one was younger she enjoyed flipping pages and simply touching the faces of "her friends" in China. I'm pretty much a sucker for the last page: "China isn't my home anymore, but it's where I was born. Even though that was a long time ago, it's a really important part of my life. If I hadn't been born in China, I wouldn't be me." Well said, Ying Ying. Interesting to point out, the photographs are all their own since the Chinese authorities would not let their professional photographer in to take pictures; expect snapshot looking pictures rather than professional looking ones. And, Ying Ying, who you see throughout in her cute glasses, used proceeds from the sales of the book to pay for vision exams for all the children from her orphanage and glasses for all the kids who needed

them.

Red in the Flower Bed is a hidden gem. A poppy seed falls from the flower upon dry ground where it cannot grow and so it travels from east to west by the wind until she lands in the perfect garden. "What a tiny seed. It's just what we need," chimed the garden flowers as they wondered what that tiny seed would become. With some rain and lots of sun, you watch the seed grow and become a beautiful red poppy, the red flower that the garden was missing to make it a beautiful rainbow. A beautiful, subtly communicated story of adoption and one that will allow you as the parent the freedom to talk about how he or she "landed in the perfect spot," what a joy it has been to watch him or her grow, and the blessing he or she is to your family in a totally unique way.

I found Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born at a yard sale which turned out to be a good find. The story of an infant domestic adoption, each page starts with "Tell me again..." to string together the story of how a baby joined her family from the phone call in the middle of the night to the fun adjustments of having a new baby at home. The family tree page in the middle showing a birth dad and birth mom along with the words: "Tell me again how you couldn't grow a baby in your tummy, so another woman who was too young to take care of me was growing me and she would be my birth mother; and you would adopt me and be my parents" may be inappropriate for some. But, you can skip that page if you want. My kids all love this book and the fun illustrations. My favorite part? The page showing the parents arriving at a chaotic hospital and the words, "...when you got there you both got very quiet and felt very small." Sums it up well.

Nancy Tillman's On the Night You Were Born is not an adoption themed book. But, it has become one for us since it was one of the first gifts given to us for Lydia way back when, actually 2 years before she was even born. With beautiful illustrations, the words emphasize what a beautiful moment it was when the child was born (not mentioning an actual birth or birth family at all). Instead, this book gives simply lovely prose explaining how "you are the one and only ever you" and how "Heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn on the wonderful, marvelous night you were born." Check out Nancy Tillman's other titles as well. She's got a handful that work well for adoptive families.

Published in 2000, I Love You Like Crazy Cakes has become a Chinese adoption book classic. It's the story of a single mother and a Chinese baby girl as they become a family. Not really applicable for a lot of families (married parents with other kiddos or adoptions from the special needs program, for example) and not great for reinforcing attachment practices (talks about passing the baby around at the airport and "more and more" people coming to visit at first...eek!), but some of you will find it sweet all the same. I like it for a few poignant quotes: "How did this happen? How did someone make this perfect match a world away?" and on their first night together, "I held you tightly, kissed you softly, and cried. The tears were for your Chinese mother, who could not keep you. I wanted her to know that we would always remember her. And I hoped she knew you were safe and happy in the world."

Rose Lewis strikes again with Orange Peel's Pocket. Confronted with a classroom wanting her to tell them about China and realizing she didn't know much of what to say, a girl nicknamed Orange Peel (adopted from China) decides she'll learn some things as she runs errands with her mom that day. As they visit their regular haunts (tailor, antique store, florist, noodle shop, ice cream shop, etc.), the shop owners slip little trinkets into her pocket that she can use to teach her classmates about China. She then nervously but excitedly takes the treasures into school and stands up front to teach her friends about all the things she knew all along about the place she was born. I love this book--the illustrations are adorable and the story is even better. It's a great one to read if/when your child is struggling with how to explain her birth place to others. And, it you could use it as a great starting point to gather your own little bag of treasures that help her to share about China with her family or friends.

Looking for a book for a waiting mom...or a mom no longer waiting? God Found Us You is a good one. I can identify with that Mama Fox who prayed and prayed, wondered and dreamt, and waited through the seasons for God to find her her child. As Mama Fox tells the story, Little Fox asks her, "Did you ever want to give up?" to which she replies, "Sometimes...But I trusted that God knew you, and knew me, and knew when we'd fit perfectly together." (sigh) Little Fox does ask about his birthmother, and Mama Fox's first response is just right: "She must have had very big reasons to give you up. She must have thought it was best for you." But, that's followed with Mama Fox's belief that she "prayed like crazy" that Little Fox would be safe: "I think she prayed for me as much as I prayed for her." Not a promise I can make my daughter, so I usually change the words a bit here. Beautiful illustrations and beautiful words that remind me of our own story and my journey as a mother. And, I love that cute foxes can apply to domestic or international adoptive families AND that Little Fox is a boy.

Foxes, kangaroos, birds, and now....lizards. Oliver: A Story About Adoption is unique to the other books we have in that it shares about the feelings and thoughts Oliver (a young adoptee) has when he's punished, wondering what it would be like if he lives with his birthparents instead of his adoptive parents. He imagines all the things his birthparents might be doing, what they might be like. In the end, he's comforted knowing that his nonadopted parents also wondered when they were kids what it would be like to live with another family and decides to stay put right where he is. Not one I'm going to start reading to our almost 5 year old now, but one I want to have on hand for when I feel like she's ready for this type of conversation...not sure what readiness looks like yet but trusting I'll know it when it's time. Illustrations are simple sketches that you could even allow your child to color in to customize it if you'd like, allowing you to make the lizards different colors if desired.

The Name Jar is a Korean-themed book, and it isn't about adoption. So, why is it on my list? It's the story of Unhei, new to the country, new to her town, new to school. When her first trip on the school bus ends with kids making fun of her name, she decides in class she's going to pick a new name but doesn't know what to pick. So, her classmates start a name jar for her with all their suggestions for good names, stumped by this new girl who doesn't have a name already. When a classmate overhears a Korean store owner use Unhei's real name, he becomes the hero by kidnapping the name jar and encouraging Unhei to introduce herself as herself. Though this isn't about adoption, I think it's such a great book to read with older adoptees newly home who may be struggling with their English skills or, if they kept all or part of their original name, how to fit in with all the American kids. Yangsook Choi is a favorite of mine.

My older kids LOVE books they can fill in about themselves...okay, maybe some adults do too. It's fun to have a book about you. For families bringing home older kids, Me and My Family would be helpful. This large, spiral bound book is divided into 3 sections: (1) to introduce yourselves and welcome the child before he or she actually joins your family, (2) when the child is "moving in" and getting to know all of you, and (3) living together for the long haul. You may need to adapt it some if you are doing it together once the child is home, but the beauty of the spiral binding is that you can remove pages easily that you don't want in there. You can view sample pages from the book here courtesy of BAAF.

Ellen Levine's I Hate English! isn't directly about adoption, but is an awesome resource for families adopting a child from China who is old enough to be fully verbal in Chinese and struggle with the transition to English in his or her new family. The book is about a girl from China who moves to New York and finds herself angry that no one knows Chinese. It deals with the anxiety of losing something special as well as the frustration of learning something new.

I Don't Have Your Eyes is a good book for children who look physically different than their families—bio or adoptive (don't be fooled by the cover, there's lots of diversity represented, not just Asian). The illustrations aren't my favorite, but the text is simple and easy to read. And, the message is a good one for toddlers and preschoolers as well as their older siblings, in our case—though there are many ways we look different, there are just as many ways we are the same. This book helps families celebrate their differences while also emphasizing that our hearts are what matter most.

A book about international adoption of an older girl. Sisters is a cute story about Melissa, the bio older girl, and Kika who has just joined the family through adoption (country isn't named, but parents do travel for a couple weeks to bring her home and she has dark, wavy hair and fair skin). In simple language and cute pictures, Sisters touches on Kika's fears and adjustments as well as Melissa's. In the end, they argue and make up...just as sisters do. This one is getting harder and harder to find as it’s been out of print for a while now. If you’re at all interested, snag a copy now.

Since when does 1994 qualify to be called "the olden days"? Fred Rogers' Let's Talk About It: Adoption has great content, very matter of fact about what a family is, what adoption is, and feelings a child may have about it. The pictures are real photos of children and families that are as early 90s as you can get. Think mom jeans and big hair. But, this one has remained on our shelf since the content is so good, but I am officially requesting that the awesome people at the Fred Rogers Center republish this one with either illustrations or new photos (that someone else can cringe at in another 15-20 years).

A Mother for Choco celebrates transracial adoptive families through a bird, a bear, a hippo, an alligator, and a pig. Choco sets out to find a mother and learns that his mother doesn't have to look like him, she just has to care for him. Good for all adoptive families—especially transracial ones and ones with adopted boys.

A Blessing from Above...literally...when a baby bird falls out of the nest and into the empty pouch of a kangaroo. Cute little story with adorable illustrations. Note that in this book, the mama blue bird keeps a nestful of babies but is okay with her "littlest one" being adopted by a kangaroo since she knows "her nest was not big enough for all her chicks.” That’s hard. But, that alone makes this book a helpful resource because that’s something our children may have to process through at some point, as hard as it is.

If you want simple language for little ones and simple drawings to catch little ones' attention, We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families by Todd Parr is one you'll want for your shelf. Every page set starts with "We belong together because..." and starts with "you needed a home and I had one to share" and then goes through a handful more including "you needed someone to kiss your boo-boos and we had kisses to give." Designed to work for all sorts of adoptive families with pronouns that change and people of different colors (think blue and purple!). I like this one and find myself wanting to take it and make my own book for each of my kids from it bringing in what I believe are the reasons we belong together.

Finding a Family for Tommy was written for young kiddos (18 mo-5 years old) in very simple language with lift-up flaps (and a spiral bounding...which I like). Tommy needs a family and each page shows places with families that wouldn't work—the farm, the pond, the zoo, etc. In the end, just when you think Tommy will never find a family, a picture with lots of people with friendly faces is revealed with the text, "Hooray! Here are some families. Not too smelly or soggy or scary. Which one is right for Tommy?" I'm well aware of the lack of good books for foster kids; this is a good one. And, what I like about it too, is that you can read it with children adopted domestically or internationally from birth or as toddlers, etc. just to open up the discussion about what makes a family and how a child new to a family may feel. Another good resource from BAAF.

Cindy Lee has written eight children’s books so far to help parents teach their kids TBRI® principles (as developed by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross at the Institute of Child Development). Check them all out and order the full set or just order the ones that apply to strategies you've embraced as a family. Proceeds from the books are being donated to HALO Project, an intensive intervention program for foster and adoptive children of which Cindy is the director, and the Institute of Child Development which is super cool.

**The Amazon links here are affiliate links which means when you use those links when you make your purchases, Amazon will give a small percentage of the sales back at no cost to you to support what The Sparrow Fund does to support families. Click away!**

September 23, 2016

The U.S. State Department has proposed new rules regulating intercountry adoption that will drastically impact the ability for orphaned children abroad to be adopted. These rules would restrict the number of agencies working in foreign countries and are motivated by an anti-adoption agenda.

We the People hereby petition our government to immediately withdraw the proposed rules published on September 8, 2016 changing the accreditation standards and procedures for intercountry adoptions; and that the State Department be required to identify and substantiate what problems they seek to solve by proposing these rule changes and incorporate the expertise of the adoption community prior to formulating any necessary new rules. The number of intercountry adoptions to the United States has fallen by 75% since 2004, leaving hundreds of thousands of orphans without safe, stable and loving families.

September 21, 2016

America World's information booklet has just been updated and is now available on our website in PDF and hard copy. The booklet offers information about our adoption programs including waiting children, and orphan advocacy through America World's new ministry, One Orphan.